Editing History of Clan Goliath Scorpion

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[[File:Clan Goliath Scorpion.jpg|thumb|right|Crest of Clan Goliath Scorpion]]
===Founding===
The Scorpions' first [[Khan of Clan Goliath Scorpion|Khan]] was [[Cyrus Elam]], a former member of the [[SLDF]] Corps of Engineers, chosen to lead his Clan because of innovative tactics he demonstrated in training on [[Strana Mechty]].  His [[saKhan of Clan Goliath Scorpion|saKhan]] was [[Jenna Scott]], a young infantry commander known for predicting her enemies' movements. Under their Khan's instruction, the fledgling Clan developed flexible combat tactics and fielded combined-arms forces.  They would soon come to embody their totem animal and earn a fearsome reputation for swift and deadly strikes.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 80: "Clan Goliath Scorpion Cluster"</ref><ref>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 101</ref>

===Operation KLONDIKE===
The Scorpions were assigned to retake the world of [[Dagda (Clan System)|Dagda]] alongside [[Clan Widowmaker]], [[Clan Fire Mandrill]], and [[Clan Burrock]].  The Cluster made the first landing on Dagda, and faced off against the McMillan Collective, the best-equipped and best-led faction on the planet.  The crux of the fighting was at Firebase Delta, a functional Space Defense System facility.  While the Scorpions took the facility, it cost them nearly a quarter of their strength.<ref name=HOKp80-81>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', pp. 80–81</ref> [[Saho Yeh]] was the only Scorpion MechWarrior to survive the assault.<ref name=HOKp164>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 164</ref>

After crushing some smaller factions on the Riva continent, the Scorpions faced The Chosen, a doomsday cult who thought to ride out the war in an upland mining facility-turned-monastery.  The Chosen had already spread stories of atrocities in occupied territories and provided weapons to the locals, leading to riots that killed a number of Clan infantry.<ref name=HOKp82>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 82</ref>

The monastery was believed inaccessible due to its location amidst the thin atmosphere of the uplands.  Khan [[Cyrus Elam]]'s combined-arms force was well-equipped for such a task, and advanced against the citadel's defenders.  Then saKhan [[Jenna Scott]] led a flanking attacking over the high plateaus and shattered the Chosen forces.<ref name=HOKp82/>

After grinding the Chosen's military to pieces, the Scorpions laid siege to the monastery itself.  When the time came to storm the structure, many of the inhabitants committed suicide rather than be taken by the Clans.<ref name=HOKp83>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 83</ref>

The Scorpions moved on to the Tenno continent, where they faced the Drakkars.  Khan Elam intimidated the Drakkar into surrendering with a demonstration orbital bombardment against a mountain peak.  The Drakkar leader was later adopted into the Scorpions' technician caste.<ref name=HOKp83/><ref name=HOKp84>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 84</ref>

Dagda had three [[w:atoll|atolls]] remaining to conquer. The first two surrendered peacefully to the Clans, but the final atoll ambushed the Scorpion landing party and nearly wiped them out; a female MechWarrior, [[Naomi Djerassi]], was taken prisoner, tortured, and thrown to her presumed death in a pool of seawolves, one of which saved her from drowning.  Trained in commando tactics, she waged a campaign of terror against the vicious inhabitants until she finally forced the same chief that had thrown her to the seawolves into the same pool.  She then sabotaged the main power plant and ordered the inhabitants to flee.  Scorpion recon craft reported the explosion, and she was rescued along with a dozen other survivors.<ref name=HOKp85-86>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', pp. 85–86</ref>

The Scorpions' heavy losses ruled them out from participating in the final battles of the Dagda campaign.<ref name=HOKp86>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 86</ref>

===Rebuilding===
The Goliath Scorpions would be awarded a portion of Dagda to settle, setting up along the rocky coasts and on the ocean floors to create their first enclave.  Khan Elam utilized his skills as an engineer to construct extensive deep-sea mining facilities on Dagda, while the planetary defense base on Satan's Table was rebuilt and served as the Clan's primary home.  Similar resource-gathering efforts were started on [[Roche]] and [[Tokasha]] as territory was ceded to their control.  The Goliath Scorpions became famous for their ability to exploit overlooked or underutilized areas for resources, bringing in a steady supply of materials needed to rebuild following the Pentagon conquests.  However, the Clan and its very character would be most influenced by a chance discovery on [[Babylon]].<ref name=FMWC103>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 103</ref>

In the days following the pacification of the Pentagon worlds, a patrol from [[Clan Ice Hellion]] discovered [[General]] [[Ethan Moreau]], sunburned and scarred, atop a jagged obsidian rock in the Spiked Heart Desert.  While apparently suffering from the stings of a goliath scorpion, Moreau demanded he be given an audience to [[Nicholas Kerensky]], referring to his old friend as [[IlKhan of the Clans|ilKhan]].  That someone not of the Clans would refer to Kerensky by this word has been attributed to the visionary power of the goliath scorpion's venom, though the truth of the incident is muddled by Goliath Scorpion mythology.  In any case, the Ice Hellions brought Moreau before Kerensky and the general, through parched lips, begged forgiveness from his friend for rejecting to join him on the [[Second Exodus]].  Kerensky accepted, and began the tradition of ''[[surkai]]'' among Clan members seeking forgiveness.<ref name=FMWC102>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 102</ref>

Citing the likelihood of infirmity from his wounds, the Ice Hellions refused to take in the veteran [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] and last survivor of the [[Gunslinger Program]].  Khan Elam therefore won the petition to take on Moreau as a trainer, though like others who refused the Second Exodus his genes were denied a place in the Clans' eugenics program.  Moreau also became Goliath Scorpion's first [[Loremaster]] in [[2824]],<ref name=HOKp98>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 98</ref> writing down the lessons he learned into their portion of [[The Remembrance]].<ref name=FMWC103/>

The Clan would play a role in the [[Trial of Annihilation|Annihilation]] of [[Clan Wolverine]] in [[2823]] and again a decade later in the [[Trial of Absorption|Absorption]] of [[Clan Widowmaker]].  Although [[Clan Wolf]] had been given the right to Absorb the rebel Clan by themselves, both Khan Elam and Loremaster Moreau would take part in the last battle against the Widowmakers on Roche, where the Widowmakers had been pursued to their final stronghold of Porthos.  From their enclave on Priam Plateau above the city, the Scorpions watched as the Wolves stumbled into a trap laid by the Widowmakers.  Compelled by his ''[[surkairede]]'' to defend the legacy of the great Kerensky, LoreMaster Moreau drove his ''[[Black Knight]]'' into the city, with Khan Elam and the rest of the Scorpions following.  They succeeded in saving the Wolves, although Khan Elam would die in a mysterious artillery strike which also claimed the life of the Widowmakers [[SaKhan of Clan Widowmaker|saKhan]], [[Kyle Vordermark]].  In spite of being saved from destruction Clan Wolf was initially outraged at the interference in a Trial they alone had won the right to prosecute.  Khan [[Jerome Winson]] eventually accepted that Moreau's ''surkairede'' was an honor debt to his entire Clan, and so in thanks to their timely aid granted the Goliath Scorpions much of the Widowmaker enclave on Roche, including their massive military fortress known as the Spiderholm.<ref name=FMWC103/>  A new Khan, [[Shandra Dinour]], would replace Elam as leader of the Goliath Scorpions and play an important role in shaping their future character.

===The Golden Century===
During the [[Golden Century]] the Goliath Scorpions would help revolutionize Clan society with the creation of underwater industrial exoskeletons in [[2842]].  Known as "water elementals" to their laborer-caste operators, these suits allowed the Clan to harvest the mineral wealth buried beneath the planet's watery depths, which impressed visiting merchants from Clan Wolf.  In exchange for mineral rights to almost all of Dagda's oceans, Goliath Scorpion granted the Wolves the technology behind their diving suits, and used their new mineral wealth to become the planet's dominant industrial power and expand their colonies on Roche and Tokasha.<ref name=FMWC104>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 104</ref>  The Scorpions were just as surprised as everyone else when the Wolves unveiled their [[Elemental (Battle Armor)|Elemental Battle Armor]] in [[2868]], though they quickly recognized where the technology had originated, and were equally impressed by their performance in battle.  Petitioning the Wolves for a reciprocal trade, the Scorpions acquired the design plans and twenty of the new suits in exchange for breeding rights to the Collesano, Baba and Shaffer Bloodlines.<ref name=FMWC105>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 105</ref>

The Clan had much more trouble acquiring the technology behind [[OmniMech]]s, however, which [[Clan Coyote]] debuted in [[2854]].  Three separate operations to seize the technology were frustrated as Coyote warriors would invoke ''[[zellbrigen]]'' to reduce the conflicts to a series of duels between warriors.  Though easily winning each full-scale battle, the result would be nullified as the Coyotes' superior machines allowed them to handily defeat the Scorpions in single combat.  It would take years before the Goliath Scorpions finally began fielding their own OmniMechs, taking them in a raid against [[Clan Fire Mandrill]]'s [[Kindraa Payne (Clan Fire Mandrill)|Payne Kindraa]], by which time the other Clans were already fielding large numbers of OmniMechs.<ref name=FMWC104/>  In response to their poor showing, Khan Dinour instituted a series of gladiatorial tournaments based upon the [[Martial Olympiad]]s in what became known as the Circus Honorae, or Circle of Honor.  These tournaments would continue into the modern day as a means of sharpening warriors' dueling skills.<ref name=FMWC104/>

The Golden Century also saw the beginning of many other Goliath Scorpion traditions.  Loremaster Moreau, having survived the effects of the goliath scorpion venom himself, petitioned Khan Dinour to institute a rite of initiation for young Scorpion warriors.  Each recruit would allow a goliath scorpion to sting them, thereby proving their fortitude.  The fatality rate from this rite, however, quickly became too much for the Clan to bear. In response, the scientist caste devised a drink called [[necrosia]] based upon the scorpion venom which, while safe to ingest in controlled quantities, kept the hallucinogenic side effects and allowed for "prophetic visions."<ref name=FMWC103/>  It was in [[2845]] when Moreau, after one of these visions, gathered together the Clan's warriors and charged them to find a cache of Star League relics left behind by Clan Wolverine on [[Marshall]].  Five years of fruitless searching provided no clues, whereupon a patrol by the Ice Hellions found a grotto matching Moreau's description a mere two months later.  Khan Dinour issued a ''[[batchall]]'' to take the site by force, and within the week drove off the Ice Hellions, revealing a sizable amount of Star League artifacts and weapons.  The Ice Hellions however began a series of [[Trial of Possession|Trials of Possession]] for the cache which would last a year with no clear winner.<ref name=FMWC104/>

This left both Clans vulnerable to elements of Clan Fire Mandrill who, seeking to take advantage of the situation, began harrying both sides in [[2851]].  Both sides were outraged at this intrusion, but for Goliath Scorpion this anger was compounded when a young [[Kindraa Mattila-Carrol]] warrior, catching Loremaster Moreau stuck in swampy terrain, refused the Loremaster's request for ''[[hegira]]'' and executed him.  The Hellions and Scorpions made a temporary truce and drove back the Mandrills, however the losses they had suffered thus far made further conflict pointless.  Coming to an understanding with each other, the Hellions were allowed to keep the Star League weaponry while the Scorpions took possession of the remaining contents and the caves themselves.<ref name=FMWC104/><ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 76</ref>

The new Loremaster, [[Lan Kirov]], was inspired by Moreau to continue his brand of mysticism and quest for knowledge.  Within the next two decades, Kirov created a special cadre of warriors called Seekers, charged with finding artifacts of the lost Star League scattered throughout the Pentagon and [[Kerensky Cluster]] and bringing them back to the Clan to serve as a basis for rebuilding the Star League.  The Seekers quickly became a force throughout Clan space, discovering many forgotten caches of and winning many duels for Star League technology and cultural items, which the Clan dutifully collected in order to study and understand the League and its highest ideals.<ref name=FMWC105/>  However, the Seeker movement ran into trouble when it threatened to split the Clan's warrior caste.  Seekers had begun wearing their own uniforms—silver and red clothing meant to distinguish them from the rest of the Clan—and expanded the Spiderholm fortress in [[2785]] to incorporate the Temple of the Nine Muses, a storehouse for Star League artifacts and the movement's unofficial headquarters.  When Loremaster Kirov called for the Seekers to begin searching the worlds of the [[Inner Sphere]], events finally came to a head.  With the split threatening to leave the Clan vulnerable to its enemies, saKhan Scott challenged Kirov for leadership of the movement, and in a legendary knife-fight defeated him despite being thirty years the Loremaster's senior.  She forced the Seekers to swear an oath to the ideals of Kerensky before their own or be eliminated by their fellow Clansmen, before dying of her own wounds.<ref name=FMWC106>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 106</ref>

===The Great Debate===
Such was the Clan's self-involvement that the growing split within the greater Clan society over the question of returning to the Inner Sphere went completely unnoticed.  When the vote to invade the Inner Sphere was brought before the Great Council in [[3000]], it came as a puzzling surprise, though the Clan's leadership quickly rejected the idea.  Siding with their close ally Clan Wolf and the [[Warden Clans|Warden]] ideology, they believed the Inner Sphere was meant to be protected, not conquered and dominated.  As an alternative, they backed Wolf Khan [[Kerlin Ward]]'s [[Dragoon Compromise]], sending a force of volunteer [[trueborn]] and [[freeborn]] warriors to scout the Inner Sphere and determine its military readiness.  In an unforeseen move, the Scorpion's saKhan [[Ren Posavatz]] issued a ''batchall'' to train [[Wolf's Dragoons]] and won the bid unopposed.<ref name=FMWC106/>

The elite [[1st Cateran (Clan Goliath Scorpion)|Heartvenom Cluster]], the Clan's special forces unit, trained the Dragoons for two years in unconventional tactics.  Drawing upon the Star League military doctrines and holovids stored within the Scorpion archives, they transformed the unit into an elite fighting force the equal of any front-line [[Cluster]].  Protestations against this methodology as being in opposition to Clan ideals fell on deaf ears, with Wolf Khan [[Kerlin Ward]] giving them his support and permission to depart in [[3004]].<ref name=FMWC106/>  A number of Goliath Scorpion volunteers accompanied the Dragoons on their mission, while [[Star Colonel]] [[Vlad Dinour]], commander of the Heartvenom Cluster, was won by Clan Wolf in a [[Trial of Possession]] and used to mold the [[Fourth Striker (Clan Wolf)|Fourth Striker Cluster]] along Scorpion lines, becoming a model assault unit for [[Epsilon Galaxy (Clan Wolf)|Epsilon Galaxy]].  Reports provided by the Dragoons and Scorpions on Inner Sphere tactical doctrine became of vital importance to the Wolves during the invasion.<ref name=FMWC107>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 107</ref>

When the [[ComStar]] [[Explorer Corps]] JumpShip ''[[Outbound Light]]'' accidentally discovered the world of [[Huntress]] in [[3048]], concern about the discovery of their [[Clan Homeworlds|Homeworlds]] spurred the Clans into action.  [[Clan Smoke Jaguar|Smoke Jaguar]] Khan [[Leo Showers]] played upon these fears and rallied the Clans in a hasty Great Council vote to approve [[Operation Revival]].  Though the vote was passed by a wide margin, Goliath Scorpion leadership, in a show of disdain for Showers' brinkmanship, cast their vote with the toss of a coin.<ref name=FMWC107/>

===Operation Revival===
In the Trials to determine who would participate in the invasion, Clan Goliath Scorpion was left out of the initial wave, although they were able to take advantage of the situation.  With so many units away from the Homeworlds on their Crusade, many Seekers began searching through areas previously considered too heavily defended.  SaKhan Posavatz himself was nearly killed on the Smoke Jaguar world of [[Tranquil]] during one such raid, barely escaping from a terrible battle outside the city of Blood River.  He would later win a [[Trial of Possession]] against [[Clan Steel Viper]] in [[3049]] for the right to accompany them into the Inner Sphere, taking with him his retinue and a [[Star (Formation)|Star]] of 'Mechs.  Rising military tensions between the so-called [[Home Clans]] also saw in that same year Khan [[Nikolai Djerassi]] stepping down from his post, announcing his intention to reshape the Clan's ''[[sibko]]s'' in preparation for conflict not only with the Inner Sphere, but with their fellow Clansmen as well.<ref name=FMWC107/>

Posavatz would not return from his quest to discover Star League relics, disappearing during the fighting on [[Tukayyid]] when the Steel Vipers were forced to retreat from Devil's Bath.  The sudden loss of leadership in the wake of defeat on Tukayyid was fortunately filled quickly.  Khan [[Ariel Suvorov]] promised to modernize the Clan's aerospace forces and expand their territory within the Homeworlds, while saKhan [[Nelson Elam]] counseled a conservative strategy to bolster their defenses against their aggressive Clan brethren.  This mix of ideologies gave the Clan a focus and resiliency missing since the Golden Century.<ref name=FMWC107/>

===Times of Turmoil===
The years following the [[Truce of Tukayyid]] saw great fluctuation within Clan society.  For their part, Goliath Scorpion strengthening their bond with Clan Wolf as, in the wake of the [[Refusal War]] of [[3057]], the Scorpions gladly bid away an entire [[Trinary]] of [[Crusader Clans|Crusader]]-minded warriors to the Wolves.  Their part in the [[Harvest Trials]] was rewarded with the gift of an ancient ''[[Mackie]]'' from [[Galaxy Commander]] [[Katya Kerensky (31st c.)|Katya Kerensky]].  The Scorpions stood by as [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]] was destroyed in the [[Great Refusal]], and in the period afterwards that become known as the [[Wars of Possession]]—the Absorption of [[Clan Burrock]], the defection of [[Clan Nova Cat]] and mass relocation of [[Clan Ghost Bear]]—the Scorpions played only a minor role and made few gains.<ref name=FMWC107/>

Chief among these was the capture of an enclave on [[Huntress]]' Abysmal Continent, a move which gained them a ''[[Warhawk (Masakari)|Warhawk]]'' factory and several resource complexes, and the capture of Fort Fairchild and [[Tokasha MechWorks Alpha]] on Tokasha.  However in a decisive defeat, which saw the loss of a WarShip and nearly a third of their territory on the planet, the fort and the MechWorks facility were both taken from the Scorpions by Clan Hell's Horses on April 13 in [[3065]].  The Scorpions also made efforts to improve their trading with [[Clan Snow Raven]] and reached out to [[Clan Jade Falcon]] for a military alliance.<ref name=FMU62>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 62</ref><ref>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 12</ref>

===Jihad===
At some point in [[3068]], Clan Goliath Scorpion took part of the [[Seventy-first Light Horse Regiment]] of the [[Eridani Light Horse]] Brigade as bondsmen.<ref>''Blake Ascending'', p. 288</ref><ref>''Jihad Hot Spots: 3070'', p. 128</ref> As living relics of the original [[Star League]], the Light Horse have been the source of intense fascination to the Scorpions. When [[Clan Diamond Shark]] could no longer provide communications and provisions, Khan [[Ariel Suvorov]] authorized the [[Seekers]] to approach the Star League embassy and its ELH garrison. Subsequently, the Scorpion merchant caste was allowed to provide those services to the mercenaries while inculcating them on Goliath Scorpion culture.

When the Jihad plunged the Inner Sphere into chaos and destruction, some of the remaining Star League embassy staff chose to be evacuated by the Diamond Sharks back to the [[Inner Sphere]]. The Seventy-first Light Horse and other staff did not share those sentiments. Colonel [[Sandra Barclay]] used her newfound knowledge of Clan customs to declare a [[Trial of Possession]] for the Scorpions' [[Huntress]] enclave. If they lost, they offered themselves up to be Absorbed by the Clan. The Trial was a hard-fought victory for the Scorpions, whereupon they took the light battalion that remained as ''[[abtakha]]'' in what could be described as a celebratory atmosphere.

After going through their [[Trial of Position]]s, a few individuals were dispersed throughout the Scorpion ''[[touman]]'', while the majority along with several Seekers were formed into two new Clusters, the [[First Eridani Lancers (Clan Goliath Scorpion)|First]] and [[Second Eridani Lancers (Clan Goliath Scorpion)|Second Eridani Lancers]]. It should be noted that unlike other Clans' Inner Sphere ''abtakha'', the Scorpions were apparently impressed enough with the ELH that they allowed the former mercenaries to continue using their surnames. Colonel Sandra Barclay managed to achieve the rank of Star Colonel and took command of the First Eridani Lancers.

===Wars of Reaving===
The Scorpions emerged from the [[Wars of Reaving]] as the second most powerful Clan, having avoided much of the bloodshed and having Absorbed the last remains of [[Clan Ice Hellion]]. They had established forward outposts at [[Waypoint 531]] and resumed the Seekers' operations.

In [[3074]], saKhan [[Connor Rood]] was charged to lead a task force, composed of Beta Galaxy with the ''[[Bernlad (Individual Congress-class WarShip)|Bernlad]]'', ''[[Lei Kung]]'', and ''[[Karttikeya]]'' as escort, in a reconnaissance mission to Nueva Castile. Upon arriving to Waypoint 531, they found no sign of the Binary that was left behind. There was a battered ''[[Black Lion]]''-class WarShip with its crew transferring the cache to its holds. The ID-codes revealed the ship as the [[CSJ Streaking Mist|CSJ ''Streaking Mist'']]. In the following battle, the ''Streaking Mist'' dealt significant damage to the ''Bernlad'', then vanished taking half of the cache with it.

Rood was forced to adjust his plan and moved the rest of the cache onto the ''[[Lei Kung]]'', then continued on with his mission. In July, they jumped to [[Córdoba]] on the fringe on Umayyad space outside the normal jump points so as to not be discovered. A DropShip with a Trinary of the [[1st Cateran (Escorpión Imperio)|First Cateran Cluster]] attacked the world, gathering intelligence and a few local leaders. While the raid on Córdoba was underway, the ''Lei Kung'' had moved to [[Valencia]] and repeated the process. By the end of September, the Scorpions raided six worlds, collecting various civilians and intelligence. By the end of the year, the mission was completed and the task force returned to Clan Space.

In December [[3078]], the Scorpions defended [[Hector (system)|Hector]] against a [[Clan Cloud Cobra]] assault. During the fighting at the Bright Ledge genetic research station, one salvo from a Scorpion 'Mech blew the main bridge dropping half of the Seventy-third Cobra Guards into the ravine; the Cobras declared the remaining Scorpions ''[[dezgra]]'' and crushed them. Upon claiming their ''[[isorla]]'', they discovered that the Scorpion scientists, without authorization from the Khans or the Clan Council, had been experimenting with integrating [[Eridani Light Horse]] genes in the Clan legacies. The matter was brought to the [[Grand Council]], and a [[Trial of Abjuration]] was immediately approved. Despite this, the Clans moved slowly to carry it out, and this allowed the Scorpions to evacuate much of their assets to Waypoint 531. The forces left behind fought valiantly, but were ultimately defeated. The survivors gathered at Waypoint 531, then moved on to conquer the Umayyad Caliphate and Nueva Castile. From there, they form the [[Escorpión Imperio]] from the two conquered states.

==Escorpión Imperio==
===Integrating the Imperio===
After Clan Goliath Scorpion was [[Trial of Abjuration|Abjured]] from [[Clan Homeworlds|Clan Space]] in December 3078, it evacuated most of its assets to [[Waypoint 531]] in the Deep Periphery. Half its ''touman'' and a Galaxy of ''[[solahma]]'', Watch personnel, police subcaste, and malcontents remained in rearguard, and were ultimately overrun and destroyed by Clans Star Adder and Cloud Cobra. Under former Ice Hellion and new Khan [[Connor Rood]], the surviving Scorpions invaded and conquered [[Nueva Castile]] and the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], establishing the [[Escorpión Imperio]] in [[3080]].  The Scorpions chose to integrate the Castilians and Umayyads into their Clan and its caste system using the Ghost Bear-Rasalhague model and to rule as partners rather than as conquerors. The Scorpions modified it somewhat from Clan norms, adding two new castes, the support and garrison castes, to augment the customary technician, scientist, merchant, and laborer castes.

===Struggles From Within===
The integration did not go smoothly over the next five years though, as the Scorpions struggled to break decades of mistrust between the formerly hostile Umayyads and Castilians by imposing the Clan doctrine of "might makes right" for conflict resolution.  With a more developed and refined feudal society governed by ranked nobility, the Castilians adapted more easily to the system of Clan honor. But the Umayyads despised their general placement within the lower castes, and fostered an underground resistance movement that engaged in rioting and terrorism against the Imperio, such as murdering a Scorpion Head Merchant in broad daylight.<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 160: Founder's Future</ref> To complicate matters, [[Clan Watch]] agents from the [[Clan Cloud Cobra|Cloud Cobras]], [[Clan Coyote|Coyotes]], and [[Clan Stone Lion|Stone Lions]] infiltrated the Escorpión Imperio to gather intelligence and spread rumors about the Umayyad's alleged ancestry to the [[Clan Wolverine|Not-Named-Clan]]. In order to alleviate the problems and promote unity, the Scorpions decided to accelerate planning for the invasion and conquest of the Umayyads' and Castilians' mutually hated foe, the [[Hanseatic League]].

===Reforming the Imperio===
Over the next sixty years, the Scorpions carefully developed and shaped the Imperio into a powerful Periphery nation by fusing the Castilians and Umayyads together into the ruling Goliath Scorpion caste and honor systems, by crushing Umayyad dissent, rioting, and terrorism, and killing or capturing and expelling enemy Clan Watch agents back to the [[Clan Homeworlds|Homeworlds]].  To further secure the Castilians' and Umayyads' investment and cooperation within the Imperio, the Goliath Scorpions also created new [[Bloodname]]s from their best warriors for the Clan's breeding program as a gesture of goodwill. Under Khan Connor Rood many warriors that were lost in the Ice Hellion's retreat from the Inner sphere were located and added to the Imperio's ''touman''.  The Scorpions also prioritized the education of Umayyad and Castilian students via Trials of Worth placing the winners in universities run by the Scientist Caste, resulting in construction of modern Clan production facilities so that they could rebuild their ''touman'', build new infrastructure, hyperpulse generators, and manufacturing capacity to raise the Imperio's technology level to the [[thirty-second century]] standards, and open new schools and academies to instruct and train its citizens and warriors the Clan way. Khan [[Enrico Kirov]], who succeeded Khan Connor Rood in [[3108]], also shifted the Scorpions' capital to [[Valencia]], sparking a technological and cultural revolution there and continued the previous Khan's policy of establishing new colonies on seven worlds closer to the Hanseatic worlds to extend the Imperio's reach toward that target.  Kirov also preserved the wisdom and experience of his older Scorpion warriors, particularly Galaxy Commanders, by creating the reKhan position and reassigning them there as they reached middle age rather than consigning them to ''solahma'' units.  Likewise, he relaxed many of the traditional Clan customs and restrictions among the castes to further ease the integration of the Castilians and Umayyads into Imperio society. Although it took much time, Kirov's rebuilding and reform program paid off greatly as the Imperio regained the Scorpion's capability to produce Clan technology, including [[OmniMech]]s. By [[3140]], the Goliath Scorpions had recovered much of their pre-Abjuration strength and were ready to finally fall upon the Hanseatic League.<ref>''Operational Turning Points: Hanseatic Crusade'', p. 8: The Escorpión Imperio, 3080-3140</ref>

==Scorpion Empire==
===[[Hanseatic Crusade|Conquering the League]]===
While the Escorpión Imperio spent decades preparing for the inevitable invasion, the 29-world Hanseatic League wasted little time improving its defenses against this rising new threat, investing heavily in its military at the expense of its economy and the merchants’ influence on the military. Among its preparations were the hiring of experienced officers and mercenaries from the Lyran Commonwealth and the expansion of its forces to include three additional Regional Defense Forces and three new Convoy Defense Forces.<ref>''Operational Turning Points: Hanseatic Crusade'', p. 9: Hanseatic League 3080-3140</ref>

With the destruction of a group of Seekers detected by the Hansa on Bergen, Khan Scott determined that the required retaliation needed to be escalated from mere raiding to total conquest of their rival. The Escorpión Imperio's invasion finally came in January [[3140]] when nine fully integrated Galaxies of Goliath Scorpion, Umayyad, and Castilian troops, led by Khan [[Magon Scott]], stormed into the League to take on nine of its Regional Defense Forces and its three Convoy Defense Forces, commanded by Captain-Marshal [[Rudolf Schmidt]].  The ensuing three-month campaign was brutal with heavy losses on both sides but in March, the Imperio forces reached the League capital of [[Bremen (HL)|Bremen]], where [[Elemental]]s were dispatched to capture the governing Council of Merchants. However, the council members chose suicide over surrender or being taken as bondsmen. Schmidt soon ordered the surviving Hansa forces to surrender, but a few diehard remnants and mercenaries refused and fought to the bitter end. With the conquest of the Hanseatic League, Khan Scott announced the creation of the Scorpion Empire, comprising the territory of both the former Escorpión Imperio and the League, bringing its vast military industries and merchant trading networks under Scorpion control.  Scott's victory secured, Clan Goliath Scorpion emerged as the second-most powerful entity of the Deep Periphery, rivaling even the power base of Clan Star Adder and the remaining Home Clans.<ref>''Operational Turning Points: Hanseatic Crusade'', p. 13: Mopping Up</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Blake Ascending]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[Historical: Operation Klondike]]''
* ''[[Jihad Hot Spots: 3070]]''
* ''[[Operational Turning Points: Hanseatic Crusade]]''
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''

[[Category:History|Clan Goliath Scorpion, History of]]